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Friday, October 30, 2009

Last week we gave away our Set of 2 Tervis Tumbler mugs. Can you say TERVIS TUMBLER Fans - my goodness! This week the winner is #37: Christy Guenther! See her comment below! And before you guys accuse me of rigging the competition – I have also added the random.org number. It isn’t my fault that talking about Georgia Tech in your FB comments brings you good luck! ;) Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday Nov 6th to claim your prize!

This week we are so excited to be offering one of our Brand New Fontaine Maury Key Rings – brand new as in just got them on the web yesterday(!) - as our FB Friday of the Week. Key chains are a great gift for all ages and at 20 Bucks you can’t go wrong! All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to Swagger Gift’s FB Friday of the Week Photo Album, become a fan of Swagger Gifts on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday November 6th!Good Luck!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Some of my favorite memories from childhood are based on family traditions. I think it is because these traditions (especially at Christmas time) were part of the "magic" of the season and always something to look forward to.

For example, on Christmas Eve we would always go to Candlelight Service at Church, drive around to see all the pretty/tacky Christmas lights in town, make lots of hors d'oeuvres for dinner, then settle down to open gifts from other family members. We always did it in that order. Period. It still makes me smile to think about it today :-)

One of my favoritenew Holiday Traditions is the Elf on the Shelf:

We carried this in our store last year and we loved hearing stories from both the children and the parents about how they loved the Elf!

The children would come in and tell us what they named the Elf and the parents would tell us how the Elf was keeping Bobbie and Susie in check during the Holiday season since he had a direct line to Santa ;-) I know that both the adults and children will look back fondly on the Elf as one of their favorite traditions.

So of course, we couldn't pass up bringing that much happiness again this year - right?! So the Elf on the Shelf is back in at Swagger so make sure to come in early - he is already flying of the shelves and was almost sold out by Thanksgiving last year!

I though I would share a letter from the author, Carol Aebersold, and how the "Elf on a Shelf" came to be:

From My Family to Yours,

This charming tradition began for our family when my children were very small. Like most children through the ages, they wanted to know how Santa really knew who was naughty or who was nice. Their answer, as in my own childhood, came in the form of a small pixie-elf.

The first time the elf arrived at our home, my children officially adopted him by giving him a name. Each year he would arrive around the holidays, usually at Thanksgiving. His sole responsibility was to watch the children's behavior and report it to Santa each night. The next morning after the children awoke, they discovered the elf had returned from the North Pole and was now resting in a new and different place. My children would race each other out of bed to try and be the first to spy him in his new position.

Over the years the tradition was perfected and rules were introduced. For example, to better preserve his mystique the children were not allowed to touch him but talking to him was a different matter all together. My children shared many secrets with the elf, and while he was under strict orders not to talk to them, the elf was under no such orders where grown-ups were concerned.

Unwittingly, the tradition provided an added benefit: it helped the children to better control themselves. All it took was a gentle reminder that the "elf is watching," for errant behavior to be modified.

I never dreamed this simple tradition would lead to so many treasured Christmas memories for our entire family. It is my earnest desire that The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition will bring as much joy to your family as it has to mine.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Last week we gave away our new Bag Tags from Fontaine Maury. Looks like you guys have had problems finding your black bag on the luggage carousel too! This week the winner is #3: Brianna Hart! See her comments below! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday October 30th to claim your prize!This week we are so excited to be offering a Set of 2 17 oz Mugs from Tervis Tumbler as our FB Friday of the Week. Tervis Tumblers are a great gift for the “whole family”! All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to Swagger Gift’s FB Friday of the Week Photo Album, become a fan of Swagger Gifts on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday October 30th!Good Luck!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Trollbeads Denmark has introduced a new special edition collection of Trollbeads in silver and jade that were developed by Chinese artists. The official bead release date is October 15, 2009 by Denmark. However, to bring continued focus to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Empowerment bead program, the US Distributor of Trollbeads will not be releasing the China Beads until November. So when we get the beads - we promise to let you know!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tervis Tumblers (one of our favorite monogrammed gifts here at Swagger Gifts) just came out with new fonts and new colors for the personalized tumblers! Click here to see all the new options!

If you don't know what Tervis Tumblers are you are definitely missing out! First of all, they are guaranteedforlife! Who does that anymore? (And I know they are people of their word because my mother in law had to send hers in and she got new ones back within a week!) Second, they are magic! Seriously! They keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot for a really long time! I still had ice left in my tumbler hours after filling it up during the Street Parade in Zurich! (And yes when we made our temporary move to Zurich in May we were only allowed to ship 1 cubic meter of stuff total and I packed our 24 oz Big-T Tervis Tumblers! Priorities! There are some things you just can't live without!)

People get dressed up for the Street Parade in lots of different costumes - ours were pretty tame compared to the masses!:)

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hi - It's Mandy (Swagger's Owner for those of you who have only been to the store virtually)! I thought it would be fun to start doing a regular post on "Behind the Scenes" at Swagger. Customers and friends always have questions for me and I thought a "diary" would help with some answers. Here are questions I get all the time:

1. What does it take to own a gift shop?2. What do you do all day? (I get this question a lot more now that I have moved to Switzerland.:) Oh yeah and that is a picture of my hiking in the Swiss Alps.:)3. And now of course I get, how can you run your gift shop from Switzerland?4. How do you order?5. How do you know what to order?6. And the list goes on!

So here is my diary for the last week. Of course I did more than this (really I swear I did more than this), but I thought I would just hit the highlights.

So here goes - Volume 1 of Behind the Scenes @ Swagger:

It has been a busy week "behind the scenes". As I hope you all know we are hosting our 7th Annual Holiday Open House on November 8th and our 3rd Annual Open House for charity on November 5th. This past week I was working with my designer to finish the postcard design for the event as well as get them to the printer. You would think this would be an easy task since we have done it for 7 years now but NOOO of course I want the postcard to look different every year:) The printed postcards arrived yesterday (yeah!!!) and I thought I would give you a sneak peek here. Make sure to look for them in your mailbox starting Nov 1st!

Along with getting the printed postcards I had to coordinate with the mailing house on our list of addresses as well as date to send out. So stressful! What date is too early? What date is too late? (I certainly don't want them arriving after the events!) But I think we settled on the perfect date and I am happy with all decisions involved!

Another thing going on with the Open Houses are SWAGBAGS! Swag Bags are the goodie bags we put together as a gift with purchase for customers at the events. Normally we have 50 bags total but last year with both events being so well attended it was my personal mission to have 100 bags this year! And OMG our vendors have really come through! We have Azula mats, Butch and Harold Frames, Mud Pie, Danielson Designs, Scout Bags, and the list goes on! Here is a picture one one of the items that will be in 50 of the bags The total contents of each bag will be different though, so if I were you I would COME EARLY to either (or both) events!:)

So how do I run a gift shop in Cary, NC from Zurich, Switzerland? Technology of course! Before I left in May, I purchased two cameras (one for me and one for the store) and we Skype almost every day! So easy! It helps in two ways: 1) I don't feel isolated in my 600 Sq. Ft apartment in Zurich and 2) I can have meetings with my store manager, employees, customers, and even sales reps face to face!

Yesterday we did just that! Heather (my super fabulous Store Manager) set up a meeting with one of our reps. When our rep got to Swagger, Heather Skyped me and we all went over the new stuff! Our cameras are really nice and I can see a lot of detail of the products when they hold it up to the lens. Of course I still have Heather to touch and feel the stuff which is really important, so we make a great TEAM when ordering!

A picture I took with my web camera of what I was seeing during the meeting.:)

What were we ordering? Easter and Spring Stuff!:) Yep, always a couple seasons ahead! So fun though and I am really excited about the stuff we purchased! I can't divulge everything, but all I'm saying is High Heel Shoe Beer Bottle Opener!:) I know all my beer drinking friends are going to get one;)

Whew! What a week! I think I need a day off! Just kidding Heather - just kidding! So I hope you liked my first "Behind the Scenes" Post! If you have any questions for me, leave a comment and I will try to answer them in future posts!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Swagger Gifts' was so excited to launch our Community Giving Program in September! The way the Community Giving Program works is:

1. We sign up Community Partners (non-profit organizations)

2. Whenever their supporters shop at Swagger we give our partner 5% of the purchase

It's that easy! We know you guys are involved in some wonderful organizations and we just wanted to do our part to help YOU help the community!

Each month we will showcase one of our partners so you can find out more about the organizations in the community. Maybe you will want to volunteer, sign up for their newsletter, participate in a run, donate money to the cause - it is up to you! We just want to get the word out there!

Our Community Giving Partner for October is the Pretty in Pink Foundation! Of course October is a great month to introduce Pretty in Pink Foundation as it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Pretty in Pink Foundation is the only not for profit 501(c)(3) organization in North Carolina that provides financial resources for uninsured and underinsured breast cancer patients with limited financial means. Founded in 2004 by Dr. Lisa Tolnitch, Pretty In Pink Foundation’s vision is to have a point of presence in every state by 2020.

More than ninety percent of donations go directly to providing the funding required for necessary treatment, surgery, support and resources to help breast cancer patients win the fight. Pretty In Pink Foundation is able to minimize operational costs by maintaining a committed group of volunteers and supporters to further its efforts.

Here are some ways you can connect with the Pretty in Pink Foundation:

Monday, October 12, 2009

We have been waiting for our shipment of Echo Designs scarves, gloves, and pashminas and they finally arrived - yeah!!!! This company was such a huge hit last year we knew we had to get their Fall 2009 line too!

The trends for Fall 2009 have been Colors that Pop (think tangerine, yellow, purple, turquoise, red...), Animal Prints, and Plaids. We have it all in our newest shipment of outwear so come by and check it out!

I love scarves and have totally embraced this trend! I wore them when I could during the summer (without dying of a heat stroke), but now that it is fall - watch out! My favorite accessory for any outfit - for sure! I love that you can go from an okay outfit to totally chic with the addition of a scarf! I thought I would include this video from Echo Designs so you guys could see all the ways you can "tie" your scarves!

Friday, October 9, 2009

This week we are giving away Digital Holiday Photo Cards as our FB Friday of the Week!

We are so excited to be offering Digital Holiday Photo Cards at Swagger this year! To kick off this new offering we thought we should make them our FB Friday of the week. So this week we are giving away 30 Holiday Cards to one Lucky Winner!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Trollbeads designed exclusive beads to support Breast Cancer Research! We have very limited quantities so come in soon for the best selection! These Trollbeads also fit ALL competitors bracelets so tell your friends with the "other" bracelets too!:) They are so beautiful! We can't wait for you to come some them! See you soon!:)

Friday, October 2, 2009

For the last two weeks we gave away our personalized stamp. [Mandy was partying it up at Oktoberfest (and couldn't post a new FB giveaway) so she gave everyone a second chance at winning the stamp (yeah)]!

So this week we have TWO winners! #41 Mandy Smith and #96 Tiffany Warren! See their comments below! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you both up with your gift. You have until next Friday October 9 to claim your prize.

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About Swagger Boutique

Swagger Boutique is a fun and funky gift shop located in Cary, NC and on the web at http://www.shopswaggernow.com/! We specialize in trendy clothes, unique gifts and monogrammed everything for all occasions!